i read that "am" means "At the" and "im" means "in the" ....my question is i also read you can also just plain say in the or at the (in german)....how do i know when to use "am" and "im". my second question is, is there any rule for when to use "nicht" and when to use "keine/kein" thanks from hawk.

Hi Hawk, "am" is the combined version of "an dem" which means "at the", for example "Am See" (at the lake) or "An dem See" (at the lake). "im" is the combined version of "in dem" which means "in the", for example "Im Haus" (in the house) or "In dem Haus" (in the house). "Am" und "im" are faster to say and therefore more common in spoken German. "Kein" and "keine" etc are used before nouns, and "nicht" before everything else. :D

Nathalie, Thank you for the insight regarding Hawk's question. As a point of comparison, these combinations appear to be similar to contractions in English, or may be considered a syncope. In Deutsch are these combinations widely accepted in formal writing, and in formal speech? Regarding the use of nicht, can the word nicht also follow a verb as in: Die Frau fährt nicht. Danke

These combinations are widely accepted in formal writing as well as in formal speech. Unless you really want to emphazise a point ("In DEM Haus"- "In THIS particular house") you would use "im" and "am". If you are interested in the history and development of language and do some research you will see that there are many words that got shorter over time. The reason for that is that language needs to be efficient. "nicht" can be followed by a verb as in: Die Frau singt nicht. Die Frau fährt nicht. Ich kann nicht. Er will nicht.

hey, thanks Nathalie, that really helps :) bye from hawk.

So what s the correct... a) Sie fragen den Lehrer nicht or b) Sie fragen nicht den Lehrer.... You think that both of them are correct?

Ich glaube schon / i think so; a) Sie fragen den Lehrer nicht, weil sie Angst haben. oder b) Sie fragen nicht den Lehrer, sondern den Direktor.

Hello Marlacan and Ioannis, a) and b) are both correct. Paul